I'm truly sorry for the two-week hiatus (again). I hope you like the chapter, and remember that you can leave your opinion in a review! :)
The Supreme found herself lying in her bed, not sleeping but not awake; she was perfectly aware of the things around her. That night she had found herself unable to sleep; no matter the blankets she piled atop herself, her hands were always cold and always shaking, and yet she could feel the sweat rolling down her spine. She could feel, and she could hear and she could see everything that surrounded her. Not wanting to wake Misty, who slept peacefully next to her, she got dressed and went downstairs, heading for her "potions lab", as the new girls liked to call it. It had been an hour when she heard someone in the greenhouse door.
"You couldn't sleep either I guess?" Zoe asked softly as she approached.
"Oh, Zoe. Hi." the woman answered, not looking at her. "Yes. Why are you awake at this hour?"
"I could ask you the same. I couldn't sleep, and I was going to make some tea and see if it would help me relax..." the girl answered lazily. "What are you working on?" she asked curiously. The Supreme liked when the students were curious about her potions, although it didn't happen often. Potioncraft was an underrated skill about to disappear, and only three of the new students had it. "This is a common antidote, used for weak poisons, like insect bites. I've been trying to make it work with stronger poisons for days, but nothing has worked yet. It has feverfew, mistletoe berries and bezoar powder."
"Wait, those things exist?" the girl asked. Zoe had never had any interest in potions, but the girl knew that it could never hurt to try and learn something new, even if it was three in the morning. She looked down at the mixture the Headmistress was making.
"Yes, although most people think they don't."
"Why are you measuring them so carefully?" the girl asked again, observing how the woman carefully measured the weight of the powder in a miniature-sized food scale.
"When creating antidotes, you cannot use anything that counteracts with another ingredient, or it would become a poison."
"Sounds like chemistry."
"Potioncraft is chemistry." Cordelia stated, looking away from the Erlenmeyer flask to the big cupboards where she kept the ingredients. "Since you're awake too, I think it would be great if you helped me. Um… there are white willow leaves in that cupboard" she said pointing to it. Zoe quickly moved over to the cabinet where Cordelia had instructed her to look and came back with the white willow leaves, handing them over to her. "Tell me, why are you awake? Is there something that worries you?"
"No, nothing really." the girl shrugged. The Supreme knew that for Zoe there just wasn't a right way to express her feelings, and she was okay with that, although she didn't believe the words she had just pronounced. "Well you could save that as a special batch for people you don't like…" Zoe laughed softly to herself, not really sure that Cordelia would find such a thing funny.
"Don't say that! Poisoning people is not the solution." the older woman replied with a soft laugh. She had actually found it funny, but she had to act nicely and seriously, counteracting the bad influence that Fiona had been for the girls.
"You know, just label it well." Zoe grinned awkwardly at the older woman. "If you succeed in making it what kind of poisons will it cure?"
"Snake bites, poisonous spiders… also small doses of cyanide and arsenic." the woman answered, mixing the herbs on a bowl and pouring some water into the mix before adding a spoonful of it to the flask. She gently stirred it until the liquid was dark green. After picking up a rotten strawberry from one of the containers of the table, the headmistress plunged it into the mix for a minute and then proceeded to clean the fruit, revealing a not-so-rotten strawberry. She then turned around and grabbed a glass bottle, carefully starting to pour the liquid in it until it was full. She sealed the bottle and tagged it.
"You healed it." the girl said, stunned. "Is it edible again now?" Zoe wondered.
"It might be healed, but I sure wouldn't eat it." Cordelia said, watching the girl look the fruit with wishful eyes. She had had the same reaction the first time, although the fruit she had seen be healed was actually a pear, for what she remembered. "As I've said, it's a soft antidote, so it should be rotten again in five minutes, more or less. Basically, now it's edible and you can eat it, but you'll have a horrible stomach ache afterwards. And I know what I'm talking about; Myrtle didn't warn me when she showed me that trick years ago."
"I definitely don't want that." she answered. Even if the fruit did still look extremely delicious, the last thing Zoe wanted was to spend the rest of her night sick when she already couldn't sleep. "How long were you sick for?" she questioned also trying to memorize the little trick she had just learned.
"I ate two pieces, so had to stay in bed for two days and had nauseas for a week. It's a good way to play a prank on someone, though." Cordelia answered, laughing softly. She still remembered that week, about how Myrtle had told her that after that experience she would know to not to trust anything or anyone, not even family. Experience is the best way to learn, the woman had said. The old witch was a weird person, Cordelia had always thought that, but she definitely knew how to teach something. "So, are you going to tell me why you are awake?"
"I'm kinda scared."
"Of what?"
"I'm with Kyle, and I really love him, but I don't know if I want to be really committed with him for all my life." the girl explained after taking a seat on one of the stools of the room, next to Cordelia, who looked at her with a little smile. "Even though what happened with her, Madison can still be with boys, and Queenie has a boyfriend now. Both of them are normal, or at least more normal than me. But I can't control my power, so I can't be with anyone else than Kyle."
"Commitment is not bad, Zoe."
"But I've been with only two boys, and one died because of me while the other is still technically dead. I haven't seen my mother since I arrived here, and when she calls I feel that she just doesn't care about me anymore. I can't get used to be different from everyone else."
"Being different is not a bad thing, Zoe. Think about all the witches of the coven. We're different from everyone else, but we're free to have the lives that we want to have. Madison is promiscuous and bitchy, Queenie is strong and sarcastic, Nan was kind and nice with everyone. And I, well… I am who I am. I'm gonna tell you something. When I was your age, more or less, Fiona brought me here in hopes for me to develop a powerful skill and be the new supreme. When I had the right age, she wanted me to marry the heir of a wealthy family of the city, because she thought that I would be happy having the life she had. Instead, I fell in love with Hank and married him, despite my mother's objections. There's a thing that I've learn from that, and it is that you are the only one who says who you are and what are going to do, even if the consequences are awful. So just try to enjoy life and don't worry about being different, okay?"
"Okay. Thank you." Zoe replied. The girl normally wasn't a very affectionate person with most people, but the young witch decided to move forward and wrap her arms around the older woman giving her a hug. "Thank you." she repeated, her voice cracking a little.
"You're welcome." she said returning the hug. Months ago it would have been really strange that the girls had showed affection for the headmistress; but now the woman felt like she actually had a family to take care of. Pulling apart, she looked at the girl and realized the bags under the teenager's eyes. "You should probably get back to bed, or you will fall asleep in tomorrow's classes."
"Okay. Goodnight." the girl said walking out of the room.
"Goodnight."